The much anticipated 39th SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon took place on Sunday, October 28 on what can only be described as the perfect autumnal morning for running.
The popularity of this race has grown over the years not just within our own club athletes but with the entire running community.
20,000 Irish & International participants took to the start line of the most famous marathon on the Island of Ireland, the fifth largest in Europe. Lifford Strabane AC was represented by a grand total of 17 athletes.
Amongst the 17 athletes, we had a few 1st-time marathoners & club athlete Gerard Campbell completing his 42nd marathon to date and the year isn’t over yet!
The first of our club athletes to grace the very welcoming sight of the finishing blue carpet was Michael McGrinder, Michael finished in a tremendous time of 2:56PB running a new personal best, hot on his heels was his training partner & club athlete Enda McNulty. Enda had a strong run to finish in a superb time of 2:59.
Michael Duncan was next to the finish line in a fantastic time of 3:02 placing an impressive 5th overall in his age category out of 465! Well done Michael!! Next was Martin Kelly, Martin has been noted for his potential & ran a terrific personal best with a smashing time of 3:23PB taking 5mins off his previous best time over this distance.
Sean Carlin had a great run, running a personal best time of 3:30 taking 3mins of his previous best time over this distance.
Marathon man Gerard Campbell finished in the exact same time as last year in 3:34, next to grace the blue carpet running a personal best & the first of our ladies was the very determined athlete Lorraine McGrinder, Lorraine not letting her husband steal all the glory, ran a sub four hours in a fantastic time of 3:58PB taking 12mins of her previous best time over this distance.
Dominic Carlin finish in 3:58, Hugo Doherty 4:05, Paul Griffin 4:21, Graham Neilands 4:48, Laurence Doherty 4:50, Paul Crawford 4:50, Caroline Dillon 4:58, Maddy McCurdy 4:58, Don Pearson 4:58 & Edel McCauley 4:58.
Whether you speeded to a personal best, crawled to the finish line or anything in between be very proud of your accomplishment.
Well done to all who competed & represented Lifford Strabane AC over the course of the week. All at the club are tremendously proud of your achievements!! Keep up the great work folks!!
Other News:
Don’t forget to purchase your tickets!
Friday, November 2, in the Fir Trees Hotel, Strabane Lifford Strabane AC will host the 50th Anniversary of Lifford AC which was established in 1968.
Tickets priced at £20/€22 are available from any club committee member. This night will be about celebrating 50 years of athletics and is not just for club members!! Everyone Welcome. Guaranteed to be a great night.
There will be a short information session for those interested before hitting the track for your first steps towards completing a 5K. Please wear suitable clothing & footwear for exercising in. Everyone is welcome.
Juvenile training Monday 6:15pm & Wednesday 6:15pm over 10’s only. Walking Group Monday & Wednesday 6:30pm on both evenings. Adult training Tuesday & Thursdays at 6.45pm. Lifford Strabane AC caters for all abilities. All training sessions are coach led. New members always welcomed.
